We havenâ€™t seen a Threes clone for a while now, so Rocket Bottle Games developed Chicken Scramble. Is it worth your time?

The developer behind Chicken Scramble describes its game as an all-new, free 2048-style puzzle game. These days, many of the Android gamers out there know what a 2048 (or perhaps Threes) kind of game is, but yet, even though the developer itself says it is that type of game, they feel the need to explain the basic rules to the player. Thatâ€™s just weird: first you try to sell the game on the back of another game and then you waste my time explaining me what to do.

So yeah, the base of this game is a Threes game if I ever saw one, despite the new graphical appeal. This time around, players need to combine eggs into cracked eggs, to busted eggs, to little chicks and so on. The theme of the game is build around it and gives a nice, cheerful farmy look, complete with the softness of the little chicks. And the music is very soothing to, although it got me irritated by the fact it was on a constant loop. Sound designer need to be more creative than that.

Not to be a complete 2048 clone clone, Chicken Scramble does offer some of its own gameplay tweaks. For instance: levels arenâ€™t a simple square, but maintain different variations. This makes the game a bit more challenging. Also, there are certain items to be used, to get rid of something on the field or reset a step, so you can correct an error you made. If youâ€™re all out of power-ups, you can buy more with real money (of save up some digital coins), to get some more.

The problem that I have with the power-ups, and the extra layer of gameplay as a whole, is that it is to obvious of a way to make people spend money on an otherwise free app. By placing some objects on the field, right in the way of a perfect run, players need to get it out the way. And when they donâ€™t have power-ups anymore, theyâ€™ll have to buy some. Yes, it is always a choice to do so, but this is a bit too transparent to pass through as a new mechanic for a type of game that has lost his popularity already.